Reading Through Jeremiah 44 This Morning Reminds Me of My Annoyances with Roman Catholics

Many Roman Catholics still don't get it even after they've been read Jeremiah 44 concerning the Queen of Heaven. Their justification for praying to Mary (and some brazenly deny that they even pray to her while evidence says otherwise) is that they aren't praying to Ishtar or any pagan goddess but to the earthly mother of Jesus. Some just say they weren't even praying to Mary but they're merely asking for help from her. But that's necromancy and no, you shouldn't even ask your dead loved ones or friends in Heaven to pray for you either. Deuteronomy 18:10-12 Isaiah 8:19 warns about consulting the dead on behalf of the living. Please don't give me Mary was "assumed into Heaven" either because it'd still be idolatry to pray to Enoch and Elijah.

It's time to address the issues with they're not praying to Semiramis (or any pagan goddess) but to Mary the earthly mother of Jesus. By making her the "Queen of Heaven" and "Mother of God" is an affront to Jesus' divinity. In fairness, Roman Catholics don't believe Mary is God even if they believe in the heresy she's spared from original sin. But to call her the "Mother of God"may end up implying she's above God even if she didn't create the world with Jesus Christ in His divinity. During the creation of the world, the Trinity was ever-present but where was Mary the mother of Jesus? Not there. Of course, Roman Catholics will say that Mary isn't the mother of the Trinity and I believe their stand on that one. What I can't buy is that they call her the mother of God. She's the mother of Jesus in His humanity but never in His divinity. Roman Catholics are right when they say they aren't praying to a pagan goddess but praying to Mary is still idolatry.

To claim that we must honor Mary because Jesus honored her doesn't even justify the act of praying to her or having a deep devotion to Mary. Praying to a person and honoring a person are two different things. What Roman Catholics don't even realize is that they're actually worshiping Mary. When one prays the Rosary, isn't it that it has a lot more Hail Marys than Our Fathers? The Rosary is blasphemy and it's not even real prayer. While saying, "His mercy endureth forever..." several times isn't vain repetitions but the Rosary is something that could be placed on a tape recorder or for every time you say another Hail Mary or Our Father, it can be jokingly said that you just need to say "the same", "the same" until it's finally time to say Amen and make the sign of the cross to conclude the Rosary.

Many Roman Catholics just act like those stubborn Israelities in Jeremiah 44:17-19 saying:

"But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil. But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine. And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our men?"

There's always the tendency to say because for many generations they've been born and raised Roman Catholics or because they were baptized as babies therefore they're Roman Catholics. Many Roman Catholics believe they're Christians because they were baptized as infants even if they were not yet at the age of accountability. Because of that heresy that if you're baptized as an infant by Roman Catholic parents makes you a Roman Catholic, many of them continue to persist in their error. Many of them still think that to offer prayers to Mary or devotion to her (while others still continue to deny even praying to her) is part of family or national tradition. Many born in countries populated by mostly Roman Catholics even believe that they must continue the tradition because majority in their country are Roman Catholics!

What's worse is that many don't really see God's anger about Mary worship. In Jeremiah 44:17-19, we can also read that the worships of the pagan goddess (probably Ishtar or Astarte) they have called the queen of heaven, they even think that famine and warfare were a result of them not praying to her anymore. Jeremiah already warned them about it yet the refused to do so because they believed that praying to the queen of heaven protected them. Many Roman Catholics today have the tendency to blame national disasters because people refuse to have any devotion to Mary. It reminded me of the situation where Manny Pacquiao's loss was because he abandoned the Roman Catholic faith. Some even claimed that a vision of Mary (HUH?!) warned them that Pacquiao lost because he stopped praying the Rosary and that Juan Manuel Marquez won thanks to Mary. The argument has been the fallacy of Cause and Effect where one jumps into conclusions without analyzing the matter. The rebellious Israelites who continued who continued to worship their version of the queen of heaven thought that their ceasing to worship that pagan goddess caused the famines. In reality, their continued idolatry was what brought judgment to the nation. 

Do you remember the warning in Jeremiah 7:18-19 which says:

"The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger. Do they provoke me to anger? saith the Lord: do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces?"

Sad to say, many devotees of Mary today are still stuck in the same error as the Israelites who were worshiping a pagan goddess. It doesn't matter which version of the queen of heaven you're worshiping because it's still idolatry. Every nation has a different story for the queen of heaven yet it's stuck in the same heresy of idolatry. Roman Catholicism has actually dishonored Jesus' earthly mother Mary by giving her more honor than she she should get. Mary herself deserves honor for being a mother to model. Jesus honored her as a mother and His follower. Mary only said in John 2:5 to do whatever Jesus tells you to do. When Jesus invited people it was to Himself. Mary never ever got involved or mentioned that men must pass through her. When Jesus told John, "Behold your mother..." remember it was a way of saying that John was to take care of her as a mother. It was never an act of making Mary the mother of Christians or John would have mentioned it in all of his three letters.

What's worse is that the Roman Catholic doctrine of Mary has created yet another satanic imposter. It should be a grief to name this imposter after the earthly mother of Jesus. If Mary could see all of this, I can't imagine the horror she'd have that people have been deceived into believing all must pass through her before Jesus. To even call her as one who vanquishes Satan even puts her above Jesus the second person of the Godhead. It's gone too far that from distorting Genesis 3:15 where it it says it's the Seed of a woman and not the woman who tramples the serpent to distorting John 2:1-11, how can it be so? Worse, some Roman Catholics have learned to backfire by saying Mark 7:8-9 against born again Christians when they're the ones who needed to be told that. Hmmm... since when did the Word of God even teach men to pray the Rosary or to even pass through Mary? None! Besides devotion to Mary won't please her one bit. If she knew about it, I would only say that would have caused her tears because her heart is broken. It won't please her and it will only break her heart. Remember that Paul and Barnabas tore their robes when the men treated them like gods. I don't see any reason why Mary would even accept homage and honors that should belong to God alone. 

Again, some Roman Catholics will just continue to misrepresent born again Christians in general about their stand on Mary. They will continue their badmouthing campaign saying that born again Christians hate Mary and that their act of throwing away the Roman Catholic images of Mary prove that they hate Mary. It's been the same tactic of misrepresentation done to further demean those who truly belong to Christ. They even dare to lump born again Christians with Islamic extremists which is nothing more than a categorical mistake. I don't really get surprised at all the false accusations. Psalm 109:2 has it that the wicked will be speaking lies. David was accused by the wicked. What's worse is that the wicked can always say they only tell the truth even if they speak a lot of lies. It's even more dishonest to say you never lie or you've never lied because all men have lied or have lied. The problem of many who are enslaved by dishonesty think that certain lies like lying to a child about Santa Claus is okay while it's not okay for a child to lie about one's homework being done when it's undone. As a person who struggles with the sin of dishonesty I wouldn't even dare say I only say the truth and I don't enjoy my sin of dishonesty either as well as every other sin that I'm still fighting against though I can't use Romans 17:14-25 as an excuse for anything bad I do either.

Reading through the annoyances, I really can only do what Titus 3:9-11 commands Christians to do:

"But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain. A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject; knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself."

After all didn't Matthew 10:14, Mark 6:11 and Luke 9:5 say that whoever should not receive then depart and shake the dust off your footwear as a testimony against them? I figured out that I'm only called to warn but if they don't listen then it's their problem. Sad to say many Roman Catholics who died in their sins have a lot to answer for to why they rejected the Gospel according to Jesus and accepted a false gospel of Marian devotion instead.